Nordstrom is taking over from Sears at Toronto Eaton Centre

Toronto Eaton Centre has officially locked down high-end American retailer Nordstrom to take over the mammoth multi-storey space currently occupied by a soon-to-close Sears. Last year, the U.S. chain announced two upcoming Toronto outlets (at Yorkdale and SherwayGardens),and we speculated in the fall—correctly, as it turns out—that Sears’s coveted downtown space could be next. The new store is scheduled to open by December 2016, and will eventually be joined by at least one outlet of the chain’s less pricey counterpart, Nordstrom Rack.

Nordstrom is known for stocking a range of brands, from Valentino couture to Topshop, which operates standalone boutiques out of Nordstrom stores throughout the U.S. It’s unclear how the chain’s Topshop alliance will work in Toronto, where Hudson’sBay holds exclusive rights to the Brit brand. What is clear: with Saks Fifth Avenue also coming downtown in the near future, Toronto’s department store scene is poised to become, well, an actual scene.